In the middle of the SimCity fiasco it appears that Nissan has made a regrettable product placement choice. The outfit has bought some online advertising in the game, probably when it thought it would be popular and not a synonym for game broken by DRM. 

If you look closely in the game you can buy the “Nissan Leaf Charging Station,” it is a building plastered with Nissan logos that you can put next to any roadway. The charging station actually might be one of the best buildings in the game, stat-wise. It increases happiness in surrounding buildings, and doesn’t use any power, water or workers. It’s is pollution free, producing no garbage or sewage.

So what Nissan are trying to do is encourage you to put one in your virtual town, while touting their own green cred. However it is a little transparent as an advert. It uses no power, water or people to operate, and produces no waste. It also makes anyone happy if they go near it. It is a bit like Stonehenge only without the dwarfs.

It does set a dangerous precedent for the game though. You could have a McDonalds where the food improves people’s health, an Apple Store where the products “just work”, Delta Airways airport where people travel faster, or a Justin Beiber concert which people actually attend, and other impossibilities.